Concern about how Jorge Posada would handle his diminished role? Warranted. Fears that Rafael Soriano might not adjust well to New York and whether signing a reliever with an injury history was a good idea? Justified. Worries that Derek Jeter's strained relationship with the Yankee brass would surface again? Correct.

As the Yankees enter Tuesday's game with Tampa Bay in freefall, losers of six in a row and 10 of 13, this Yankee team has displayed more fissures and played out more public dramas than in years past.

The Posada stalemate was awkward enough. And although it was quickly handled, its impact was compounded when Derek Jeter and Yankee management had to get on a conference call to discuss the shortstop's defense of his friend.

And then there's the Soriano kerfuffle. Monday night, the situation became even more bizarre when Soriano said he was flying back to New York for an MRI—and was probably going to shut it down for two weeks anyway, at the advice of Yankees senior vice president Felix Lopez, a non-baseball operations employee who is not normally around the team.

Soriano is now headed to the disabled list with elbow inflammation. But before he went, he left with some parting words. Asked whether he wished he could have been contributing in these recent series against division rivals Boston and Tampa Bay, Soriano responded—without malice, but consciously—"I don't think it's the bullpen right now, it's the hitters." (Not the kind of words that endear a new arrival to teammates).

Manager Joe Girardi's response was cryptic. "My thought is we win as a team, we lose as a team," he said. "You can take that for what it's worth."

Would he broach the issue with Soriano? "What I do with my players is try to keep it in house, and that's what I'll do."

The intervention of Lopez speaks to another offseason pothole: the fact that Soriano was signed against the wishes of general manager Brian Cashman. At the time, Cashman said, quite candidly, that he opposed the signing and that ownership had overruled him. It raised questions about who exactly was making New York's baseball decisions—and the involvement of Lopez seems to suggest those weren't outlandish.

Girardi, as one would expect, said he had no issue with one of his bosses—a Spanish-speaking one, at that—stepping in on Soriano. "Honestly, I think his title is senior vice president. They're going to talk to players. A lot of times, the language barrier makes it easier. People are just trying to help. Trying to get this club going. I have no issue with it," Girardi said.

Starting with the contentious Jeter contract negotiations, all has seemed a little off in Yankee-land for some time. In recent years, the Yankee clubhouse has been a relatively quiet, peaceful place. For the past week, it hasn't been one. "I don't think there's a problem in our clubhouse. But I do believe there's frustration,'' Girardi said.

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